Peg's Blog - It Takes Community

On May 22, 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War, a nuclear submarine named the USS Scorpion disappeared without a trace in the Mediterranean Sea. The navy launched an immediate search in the 2000 square miles between the Azores islands and Norfolk Virginia but finding the sub in this vast expanse of ocean seemed like an impossible task.

As I wandered through Barnes & Noble bookstore at River Park, I heard a parent say to her teenage daughter, “It’s summer! Perfect time to pick up some new books to read.” She punctuated the sentence with words that made me smile. “Hurry up” she prodded. But who can hurry when they’re in a bookstore? Not me; And certainly not the 14-year-old who wandered off into the paperback aisle of romance novels.

Last week I had the privilege of attending a gathering at Copper River Country Club to honor 72 Community employees for their years of service. The room was festively decorated. Colorful linen tablecloths with fragrant floral centerpieces adorned the round tables that dotted the room. The 72 attendees who were mingling and sharing stories had served a total of 1,895 years. Pretty incredible!

In the last couple of years, around Memorial weekend, my father has taken to reminiscing about his days in the Navy when he was stationed on a minesweeper in the Pacific. We always end up looking through old photos and one of my favorites is of he and his buddies taking a break on the ship’s deck.

I recently visited the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to register my car, and as I was waiting for my number to be called something happened that I had never experienced at a DMV before. I heard a voice over the loud speaker say, “Clovis employees, we have a winner of our contest to process the most applications for the week! It’s Kathy, again.” announced the supervisor. There was some light applause from some of my fellow drivers in the room and a few smiles and mild congratulations offered to the winner, before the staff took on their serious audit-the-paperwork expressions and went back to work - just then A009 was called so I stepped up to the desk, handed over my application, and decided to ask Elaine* what this was all about.